


Accidental Defiance

by Lemon (lemon_sprinkles)



Category: Mass Effect
Genre: Accidental Kissing, M/M, Mass Effect 1, Pre-Relationship, Pre-War, Special Guest Starring the Mako
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-08-02
Updated: 2016-08-02
Packaged: 2018-07-28 23:51:16
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,004
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/7662001
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/lemon_sprinkles/pseuds/Lemon
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>One broken Mako, a sarcastic Krogan, and some heavily repressed sexual attraction all combine to create one very interesting mission...</p>
            </blockquote>





	Accidental Defiance

**Author's Note:**

  * For [sheploosbooty](https://archiveofourown.org/gifts?recipient=sheploosbooty).



> Written for the lovely sheploosbooty on tumblr! She requested a fic based around Shepard and Kaidan kissing during the events of ME1. I couldn't resist making it a little silly, a little cute, and hopefully somewhat amusing!

 “They put these things through stress tests before the Alliance requisitioned them… right?”

 “I believe they did, Commander.”

 “But they didn’t account for you jumping it off the side of a mountain.”

 Wrex was laughing—low rumbles that rolled through the valley, cutting through the persistent wind that swirled along the alien planet’s surface. Shepard tried to ignore it.

 Alenko sighed and pressed his fingers hard against his temple. Shepard’s attention drifted from the broken wheels on the Mako to Alenko, watching as he tried to massage the impending headache away with only the tips of his fingers and a forced serene expression.

_Great. One broken Mako and a migraine addled Lieutenant—all because you couldn’t just fucking drive around the mountain instead of over it._

They’d been searching for a rogue scientist base on a remote planet that Shepard had never heard of. Reports of Thorian husks had surfaced, a mining vessel that was searching for minerals having sent it in to the Alliance only after they’d come to the conclusion there wasn’t any money to be made. The planet was marred with jagged mountains and low lying valleys, the surface going from one extreme to the other making it nearly impossible to traverse.

 It had worn away at Shepard’s temper. Each little roadway was blocked by a deep dive or a high climb, punctuated with mummified Salarians and crazed husks that ran around in circles before valiantly throwing themselves at the Mako.

 Eventually Shepard snapped. Revving the engine he climbed to the peak of a mountain and rolled it down the other side, making good speed and ignoring the concerned hums from Alenko and the boisterous yelling from Wrex.  They’d almost made it down to the valley when Shepard accelerated instead of breaking, and proceeded to rip the undercarriage along a large, sharp rock.

 The Mako tumbled elegantly to the ground then, landing on the valley floor tires first with only minimal screaming from within.

 Shepard didn’t think it possible, but he’d successfully broken the Mako—made her inoperable in every sense of the word.

 “Think Joker can land the Normandy?” he asked.

 “Probably not,” Alenko said. He opened his eyes and looked past Shepard and down the valley. “The valley’s walls are too steep—Joker would have to land the Normandy on her side just to fit her in properly.”

 Shepard clenched his jaw and breathed hard through his nose.

 Wrex was still laughing as he walked along the sides of the Mako, large fingers shoved under his utility belt while he inspected the machine. Shepard watched, waiting for him to come up with something brilliant to say, before he stopped at the nose and shrugged.

 “You should have brought the Turian with us. He’s always got his claws in this thing—he’d know how to fix it.”

 “I might be able to fix it,” Alenko said.

 “Yeah? Does fixing it involve staring at it?” Wrex asked. “You humans are like Krogan females—always talking and never _doing_.”

 Alenko didn’t rise to the bait. Instead he dropped down on to his knees and crawled underneath the vehicle with his omnitool lighting his way. Shepard watched with a quirked brow, trying to keep his gaze on anything and everything but Alenko’s raised ass.

 Soon enough Alenko—and his ass—disappeared from view, and Shepard heard a grunt as he flopped on his back, the toes of his boots the only thing visible underneath the Mako. Rubbing the back of his neck, Shepard looked over at Wrex, eyes narrowing when he saw his grin.

 “What?”

 “Oh nothing. Nothing at all.”

 Shepard didn’t get migraines, but he was beginning to feel one coming.

 Leaving the Mako for a moment Shepard wandered deeper into the valley, looking for signs of a widening or a flattening of the ground—anything that would let the Normandy land. Or, at the very least, send in some cavalry. Shepard was beginning to trust Alenko—probably more than he should—but he knew that he wasn’t an expert on the Mako. Wrex was right; they needed Garrus.

 “I think part of the axle is still on the mountain.”

 Shepard’s heart crawled up his throat and he whipped around to see Alenko standing behind him, honey brown eyes reflecting the swath of biotic blue that had flared up around Shepard in his panic. Calming himself, he swallowed back the adrenaline, waving off Alenko’s apology.

 “Can you fix it?” he asked.

 Alenko’s full lips twisted, catching Shepard’s attention and holding on to it for longer than was entirely professional. A flush of guilt churned in Shepard’s gut, the knowledge that Alenko was his subordinate and under his command making it impossible for him to even entertain the idea of sinking himself into his—

 “Probably; if we can find the missing part. It should be a semi-circular brace… or _something_ like that. It keeps the axle attached to the nose of the Mako.”

 They both looked over at the large mountainside they’d just tumbled off of.

 “That’s a big area,” Shepard mumbled.

 “Um… yeah.”

 “You sure if we find it that’ll get it moving again?”

 “Pretty sure, Commander.”

 Shepard’s jaw muscles flexed. “Guess we better start looking then.”

XX

 They found the fabled piece after an hour worth of searching. Wrex spotted a flash of metal off to his side and sent Shepard over the sharp rocks to get it, citing the fact that his quad was worth more than Shepard’s duo. Alenko didn’t argue and simple smirked, hand only barely covering the upturn of his lips.

 After obtaining the chunk of metal that proved to be heavier than expected, they wandered back to the Mako, the double suns setting off in the distance. Dropping it down on the ground, Shepard listened to the heavy thud as it hit the dirt and bounced off a hidden rock beneath the soil. His limbs ached from the weight and he could feel sweat beading up on his brow, but he refused to show the toil the trek had cost him.

 He tried to convince himself it wasn’t because Alenko was watching.

 It was just because he had an image to maintain—especially after he single-handedly caused the entire accident.

 “I’m going to need some help,” Alenko said distractedly, his omnitool up again as he scrolled through a guide.

 “Wrex?”

 “I can’t fit under that,” Wrex said. “I’ll be look-out and make sure no husks show up to further ruin our day.”

 Shepard nodded. “Good idea.”

 Turning to Alenko he waited patiently, ignoring the chill that was beginning to creep into his suit the longer they stood in the shadow of the mountain. He wasn’t exactly sure what the weather was like on the planet once the suns had set, and wasn’t keen on dying from hypothermia because he’d been an impatient bastard.

 Finally Alenko closed his omnitool and crawled back under the Mako, a muffled ‘follow me’ trailing after him. Doing as instructed, Shepard got down on his hands and knees and shuffled up beside Alenko under the Mako, rolling onto his back once he was completely under.

 Despite its size the undercarriage of the Mako was surprisingly small. Shepard was squeezed up right against Alenko, their shoulders shoved close enough together Shepard could feel Alenko’s body heat through his light armour. Every breath Alenko took Shepard could feel, and it took everything ounce of control not to slither away from him so as to avoid any uncomfortable… stretching.

 “What do you need me to do?” Shepard asked, surprised by how loud his voice sounded.

 “Bring up your omnitool and give me some light,” Alenko said. “I need to see the area first and figure out how that piece is supposed to go on.”

 “And then?”

 “Then we combine our biotics and lift it into place. I’ll be able to screw it back on… I hope.”

 “Good idea, Lieutenant.”

  “Thank you, sir.”

 Shepard did as instructed. Lifting his arm he shone the brilliant orange light on to the broken axle, watching as Alenko began to tinker around with the literal nuts and bolts. He tried to keep his focus on the undercarriage and not the sound of Alenko’s steady breathing or the press of his shoulder against his own, but the longer they stayed pushd together the more difficult it became. As his attention began to wander and his patience wore thin, his gaze went from the axle to Alenko’s fingers, down his arms and right over to his face.

 His features were cast in the orange glow of the omitool, thick brows drawn in tight with concentration. From here, Shepard could see the three freckles above his brows and the beginnings of laugh lines around his big, brown eyes. If he truly wanted to he could have counted every single one of Alenko’s thick lashes. Shepard followed the gentle curve of Alenko’s nose down to his lips, and bit back a frustrated growl when he noticed Alenko had his bottom lip sucked between his teeth, the corner of his lip pulled in as he chewed on it, deep in concentration.

 Shepard had never wanted to be someone’s bottom lip like he wanted to be Alenko’s in that very moment.

 “Alright, I think I’ve got it ready—“

 Alenko turned suddenly, and Shepard didn’t have time to pull away before their lips brushed.

 By accident, of course.

 But that didn’t stop Shepard from freezing on the spot, breath sucking in quickly as their lips remained pressed gently together. Alenko’s eyes were wide open, the light from Shepard’s omnitool highlighting the surprise on his face. And yet they stayed, neither pulling away, either from shock or something else, Shepard wasn’t really able to tell.

 And then Alenko moved. Hot breath slipped past Shepard’s lips as Alenko’s lips parted slightly, their noses brushing together as Alenko tilted his head and, very gently, nibbled on Shepard’s bottom lip. It was the briefest of contact—so quick Shepard could have believed he’d made it all up in a fit of arousal—but then Alenko was pulling away and apologizing profusely, the blush on his cheeks visible even in the gloom of the undercarriage.

 Shepard didn’t know what to say or do. This wasn’t included in any Alliance guidebooks beyond ‘Don’t Do It’. He’d just kissed a subordinate. He’d just kissed Kaidan Alenko.

 And Alenko had _nibbled_ his bottom lip.

  _It’s gotta be cabin fever. We haven’t had shore leave in weeks and he’s desperate-- simple as that. It was an accident because he’s horny as fuck like the rest of us. There’s nothing more to it. No one has to get reported and court-martialed, or make anything of it—_

 “We should get the thing. The metal thing that…” Shepard waved his hand at the underside.

 “Y-yeah, definitely,” Alenko said, and proceeded to wiggle down and out, brushing Shepard’s hip along the way.

  _God-fucking-damn it._

XX

 They made it back to the Normandy in a rickety Mako that wobbled back and forth in the front. Wrex kept insisting he wasn’t motion sick but rolled around in the back like a ragdoll nonetheless. Alenko stayed rooted in his seat next to Shepard, strapped in and knuckles white as he gripped the armrests and held on as they trundled along the floor of the valley, making it to a place where the Normandy could pick them up.

 Alenko didn’t bring up the kiss and Shepard pushed down all memories of their brief but exciting exchange, deciding that if Alenko didn’t want to mention it, he didn’t either. Nothing good could come of it, regardless. They both knew it wasn’t possible, even if there was an attraction between them.

 But that didn’t stop Shepard from spending a few extra minutes debriefing Alenko after every mission over a cup of Alliance issued black tar coffee, and it certainly didn’t stop Alenko from chewing his bottom lip and staring at Shepard’s Adam’s apple anytime he swallowed.

 It was the little things that would have to do.


End file.
